Elem's 2nd Birthday Bash

I am so behind on my posts, so I know this will seem such a long time ago, but I still want to remember Elem's 2nd Birthday Party, and all the things that made it so special. So even though it was May 8th, this post is a must. I seemed to be way busier this year compared to last year when I was preparing for the party. I had great intentions of getting an earlier start so I could make some home-made decorations, and some picture decorations again, but before I knew it his birthday was like 3 weeks away and I didn't even have invitations ready yet. So... I quickly headed to this Invitation place in the Heights called "By Invitation Only". I was randomly in the area, and had never been there before, and instantly fell in love with their stuff as soon as I walked in. They had invitation ideas galore in there, and were so ice and ready to help you decide what would fit your event. I only spent about 15 minutes choosing my paper, the add on, the font, the wording, everything, and I was done. And happily in just about 3 days they were already completed-I couldn't believe it. I actually got the invitations out just in time, and it gave me the idea for the theme of the party as well. FireTrucks! I was having a hard time figuring out just what would be the perfect fit for Elem, but when I saw the little Firetruck add on, I knew I could make it work. From then on, I planed to do a little bit of party planning every day, but before I knew it, the party was only a few days away. We asked one of Seth's friends from work to see if his wife could throw together some kind of Firetruck cake for Elem and some cupcakes too, so I did have that underway, and then we also ordered one of those huge bouncy blow up things for the kids to jump in, since Elem loves stuff like that. And of course we planned the whole party outside, because we figured it would be a beautiful May day! LIttle did I know the day would unfold so differently.

Here is the invitation for those of you who didn't get to see it. I was really excited about them because they came out so cute for being a little late on time.


The morning started out kind of like any other, Elem slept till about 7:30 am, he ate some breakfast, and we started off running a few errands. From the beginning of the morning it seemed like we had so much time to get ready and get the decorations up and what not, so I wasn't feeling rushed just yet. I had a few things I really needing to get done, including returning our internet modem to Comcast because it had been out for over a week. So Elem and I took it back, and then ran into Babys R Us to grab some juice and candy for Elem being such a good boy! :)All while, the weather is reporting rain and major thunderstorms in the afternoon, but was looking sunny right then. I still HAD to get some balloons, so we prayed for the rain to hold off till after 5 pm and headed to a new party place in Bryant placed the order for the balloons. At that point Seth was helping Dustin get the blow up bouncer ready in the back yard, and then Elem started to get a little board with the errands. He was not wanting to ride in his car seat, or buckle up, or anything. And those days make things so hard when he gets in that mood. I still had to go pay our water bill, and then go back to pick up the balloons, so we barely made it without any major crisis from Elem, although a few tantrums did occur. In the mean time Seth called me and let me know that the girl who was making Elem's cake had a slight problem. Their power had gone out, and there was no way she was going to be able to make it. I must admit, I was completely devastated at first, and was getting really frustrated with everything. He of course, reassured me that it isn't the cake that was important and she had actually already made enough cupcakes for the party, so he would have something to blow out. It wasn't perfect, but at least there would be something. :) We finally made it home, and it began to rain. Seth and Dustin moved the bouncy into the garage, I put Elem to bed for a nap, and my sis and mom finally made it in.

While Elem was asleep, we took turns getting the food ready, wrapping presents, etc. Just as we dropped everything off at Ali and Dustin's for the party, the sprinkling rain turned into a major thunderstorm. Looking back I can only laugh, but at the time it was not funny at all. On a happy note, Rebecca's husband showed up with the cupcakes, and they were AWESOME! I mean insanely awesome. She made a bunch of yellow cupcakes with yellow icing, and put a chocolate fire hat on top, with the yellow number 2 on every single one! I mean they were better than I could have ever imagined. After I saw the cupcakes, I started getting excited for the party, and despite the rain, I didn't really care, it was still going to be a fun day surrounded by friends and family. I headed back to the house, to wake Elem up, which is never a good thing. The boy does not like to be woken up at all. I was happy to see that he was immediately excited to see my mom and sister sitting in the living room, with presents for him of course, and his frown quickly turned upside down. :) Nothing like getting showered with presents 2 minutes after you ope your eyes from a long days nap.

And the fact that Elem loves my mom, he thinks Memaw is the best and everything in our entire house came from Memaw. She is like the queen of all gifts. Haha. I quickly got him dressed, and we were out the door, with about 1 minute to spare. Thank goodness I live 1 street over from my sis in law.

I open the door, take one step in, and fall to my knees. Literally fall to my knees while holding Elem because my flip flops were soaking wet. No matter, I got right up and told myself this was still going to be a great party. At least Elem didn't get hurt right? Or at least he wasn't the one to fall. From that point on, it was all party, and no worries. Everything worked out perfect, and despite the rain there were still like 30 of our closest friends and family, who battled the down pour to help us celebrate Elem's 2nd year! I couldn't haven't been a more proud mom. And it even gets better!

A little shy at first, and not quite sure what was going on with all the people here....he just thought he was getting some cake!


Elem quickly saw the cupcakes, and the excitement of telling him it was his birthday and he got to eat his cake was getting to him, so he wanted to eat it right away. We sang, he blew out the candles all by himself (which I somehow list the cool number 2 candle I had bought, and we improvised and had to use 2 of Cecilia's pink candles), and then he ate the awesome chocolate hat on top. He loved it. He seriously loved it.
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you"

"Mmm...cake. mmmmm...mmm....cake! I love the chocolate hat!"

"You're right Elem Zane, the chocolate hat is super good"


And then he was off! The kids jumped like crazy, in the almost dungeun like room. The bouncy barely fit, but it actually was super cool. Poppa joined in and chaperoned inside the bouncy, while we all hung out inside. We were kind of glad there werent too many kids there, because any more than we had, would have been a little scary. Lets just say Elem is not the sturdiest when it comes to uneven surfaces!


Just a moment of rest time! Enough for a quick pic with mommy, and a little bit of ranch and carrots. What could be better?

We eventually got around to opening presents, which is so crazy with a 2 year old. He LOVED opening the presents, but wanted to play with every single new toy he got, right then! So we tried to let him have a few minutes with each toy so he would really enjoy the time rather than just getting it over with quickly. Everybody was so cool about being patient, and Elem totally racked up. I can not thank you enough to all the friends and family who came. Elem got more than he could ever need or want. And to those of you who purchased baseball or golf items, I still love you, even though my face and body have taken the brute of the hits. haha. Seriously though he got the BEST stuff. And to top it all off, my mom came through with the gift of the day! Elem opened up a huge box with the train table inside and has been talking about choo choo trains ever since. It is the best gift ever!!!!! And it is plastic which means nobody gets hurt. Even better.

After most of the gifts were opened, I kept hearing people say the big surprise was here. And I was like, I didn't plan anything else, what in the world is here? Till I looked outside and saw red lights flickering everywhere, and glimpses of something big and red. Uncle Dustin had called the fire department and had them bring a fire truck out to Elem's party! And they even came in the rain!!!! I had so wanted to call them and ask them to come but I thought it would cost a lot of money and then honestly I just forgot. So Elem got the super hook up! About 4 firemen came and they let the kids get inside the fire truck and see the lights, everything! It was soo cool. And they even brought Elem his very own fire truck toy, AND they brought fire hats for everybody! Another thing I had meant to do and just ran out of time. It was seriously sooo cool! Elem was a little overwhelmed because it was raining, and he didn't quite know what to do, but he still loved looking at the big red fire truck, and seeing the lights whirling around, and the big latter on top. He only got on for a short minute, but he LOVED it, and hasn't stopped telling people that a big fire truck came to his birthday party. Thank you Ali and Dustin for such a great memory for his party! He is lucky to have such a cool Aunt and Uncle!

Poppa with the kiddos in front of the fire truck...in the rain!

Aunty Steph and Aidan, one of my bestest friends and her little man.

Cecilia and Canaan-Elem's favorite girl cousin, and his favorite friend from school!

The fire truck left and more jumping and playing with the new toys was so much fun!

Eventually, the party was coming to an end and I was sad to see my sister and mom leave, but they had a long drive ahead of them, so I understood. I love having them come in town because I dont get too see them as much as we see our family that lives in Little Rock. Elem talks to them all the time on the phone so it makes it even better now, because he really knows who he is talking to when he gets to see them in person. Thanks for driving all that way just to celebrate Elem's birthday! He loves you so much. :)


After everyone was gone, I could not stop thinking that it was such a great party! It didn't even matter that I didn't have tons of cool and cute decorations, or that there wasn't some huge cake, it just mattered that everyone showed up, and that Elem had fun. I couldn't have planned it to go better if I tried. I was glad to see the night come to an end, and just take a minute to catch a breather. We ended up taking advantage of the 24 hour rental of the bouncy that we had and spent the night letting the kids bounce as much as they wanted! We actually all got in-Sissy, me, Elem, Seth, and Dustin.



Still silly after a long day of birthday party fun. Nothing can keep these two apart. They are 2 peas in a pod and can giggle about nothing-forever!

He had so much fun, and didn't stop having fun bouncing till about 9:30pm that night. But I didn't even care. We all went to bed that night tired and thankful that the day was over, but it had been a great day.
Birthday party number 2 started out not so great, and ended up so wonderful. I can't believe that Elem is 2 already, but I am so lucky to have such a happy and smart little boy. Birthday parties are so special and I look forward to all the birthdays to come. Maybe one day I will start the planning super early, and the day itself wont be quite so stressful. But that is a long shot, so we will have to see! Thank you to everyone who came, and made the day so special! I love you, and Elem loves you, and we will be loving the toys that you brought him for at least the next year! I'm kind of pumped I shouldn't have to purchase any new toys for at least that long! :)